There is a known technique in which a collision load received from a side of a vehicle body when the vehicle is involved in a side collision is borne via a seat by a console box located between left and right seats to minimize deformation of the vehicle body and to preserve passenger space in the vehicle interior. A reinforcing member or the like is used to increase the rigidity of the console box.
Console boxes in which a reinforcing member is housed within the console box are known, such as the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 62-210151. Furthermore, console boxes in which a reinforcing member is formed integrally in the lower section are also known, such as the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-335523.
FIGS. 10 and 11 hereof show the console box disclosed in the 62-210151 publication.
A reinforcing member 104, which has a U shape in cross section and which opens upward on a tunnel section 102 of a floor panel 101, is mounted by a plurality of bolts 103 to the inner side of a center console 100, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.
FIGS. 12 and 13 show the console box disclosed in the 2005-335523 publication.
The console box 110 comprises a main box 111, a storage component 112 provided in the center of the main box 111, and a reinforcing member 113 integrally molded in the lower section of the storage component 112, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.
The reinforcing member 104 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 lacks rigidity because the upper section is open, and the reinforcing member 104 deforms readily, i.e., lacks the ability to sufficiently withstand a load when a load acts on the upper section of the reinforcing member 104 from a side.
In the console box 110 in FIGS. 12 and 13, rigidity is increased because the reinforcing member 113 is arranged so as to extend across the vehicle between the left and right side walls of the console box 110, and a load acting on the console box 110 is borne by both the left and right side walls and the reinforcing member 113. However, since the pair of side walls and the reinforcing member 113 are mounted separately to a floor tunnel or another member on the vehicle body, strength or thickness must be increased in the side walls and the reinforcing member 113 in order to further increase rigidity, which increases the weight.